Brotherly Love

I have one sister and one brother.  Kevin has only one sister and no brothers.  Besides my dad and my uncle (who remain best friends to this day), I haven't been around that many brother to brother relationships.

But with our girls gone this week, it has been an all-boy household around here.  I love that our boys love their brothers

There is one big brother who didn't appear in these photos.  His mission when I get out my camera is to ruin every picture I try to take, so therefore no pictures of him.

BUT, he is a great big brother.  He is very patient with his little brothers and loves to help and take care of them.  He's a great soccer pal to Anderson and patiently plays with Giovanni and his toys.

We start our 2 week winter break today.  To kick it off right, Anderson came home today with a 102 fever.  Fun.  Please pray for him!  Thanks!

Monday Morning

"Mom," whined the 3 year old sleeping beside me this morning.
(Yes, he still gets in our bed.  It's getting better, but we're not there yet...)
I grabbed his hand thinking he just wanted to hold my hand.  But, no...
"Something's wrong.  I sheeshed* in my pants."
(Xixi - pronounced she-she - is pee pee in portuguese.  Around our house we've shortened it to "sheesh")


That was the 4:45 start to my day.

I had planned to run this morning and almost called it off because of the lovely wake-up, xixi adventure and the fact that it was cold.  In the 30's.  

But, I decided to go run anyway, and I'm glad I did.

Since the half marathon I did in April, I had probably run a grand total of 1 hour in two months.  If you've ever run regularly, and then stopped, you know how hard it is to get started again.  Like starting from zero.

I needed something good to listen to, so I downloaded a sermon from the Bethel church website.  I wasn't that excited about the title, but it ended up being just what I needed.

It was an interview with Ryan and Sara Hall.  They are professional runners and Christians.  Ryan is on the US Olympic team for the marathon.  Their interview was so great.  It encouraged me physically and spiritually.

I would strongly encourage you to listen to their interview.  If you are a runner, you will love it.  If you are a young person interested in sports, you will love it. (I'm encouraging Garrett to listen to it soon.)  If you are serious about running the Christian race, you will also love it.

Go here to download.

I can't wait to follow Ryan in the Olympics!

10 years

On June 23rd we marked our 10th year of being in Porto Alegre.

10 years.  It went by really fast.  Looking back, I have learned so much, grown so much, and been blessed beyond imagination.  The biggest blessing of these 10 years is the wonderful people that God has brought into our lives.

I love our church family.  

I am so glad that I will be spending eternity with these people.

Today was a special day.  We found out about a house that is owned by the Catholic church and has been used for several years as a type of "soup kitchen" or shelter for the homeless.  They didn't sleep there, but went for a warm shower, change of clothes and a hot meal.  Most of all they received the love of Christ from the Franciscan monks who lived there.  

Because of a lack of volunteers, the monks are not able to continue the work they were doing and gave the house back to the Catholic church who owns it.  One of our members found out about this house and inquired about the possibility of us continuing the outreach to the homeless (and others who need help) by using this house.  

Today we went to visit the house and pray for God's will to be done.

The house is huge, and our church family walked around with stars in their eyes just dreaming about how we all could serve the Lord using this house.  We have not had a building for several years and our church has grown in number and in spiritual strength.  We don't need a building to be a family.  But  it was neat to see and hear the dreams of those who visited today and hear the humble prayers of petition that God would grant us the use of this house if it would bring glory to Him.

I am so thankful for the attitudes and servant hearts of our church family.  I am thankful to be a part of this group.  We'll see what God has in store for us.

Thanks for praying with us!